


Exfil Strategy

by nativemossy



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Bucky Barnes Feels, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Cults, Homophobic Language, Hydra (Marvel), M/M, Past Bucky Barnes/Natasha Romanov, Religion, Tony Stark Feels
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-02
Updated: 2020-01-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:55:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22081417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nativemossy/pseuds/nativemossy
Summary: Bucky remembered watching a true crime special on cults one time in high school. He had thrown popcorn at the screen, jeering at the people who were interviewed. How could they fall for such blatant manipulation? They were ruining their lives for nothing!Yeah, Bucky was beginning to see the irony in that.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes & Natasha Romanov, James "Bucky" Barnes & Steve Rogers, James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark
Comments: 4
Kudos: 14
Collections: 2019 WinterIron_Holiday_Exchange





	Exfil Strategy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cleopatraslibrary](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cleopatraslibrary/gifts).



> based off the prompt :A college AU where Tony is still the mega genius (comic book genius), but Hydra doesn't exist/the Howling Commandos don't exist. Instead, Bucky is recovering from his time in the infamous cult, HYDRA.
> 
> I hope i did it justice! If you'd like more information on what I developed my version of HYDRA off of, check the end notes. I didn't intend for this to be a pseudo-love letter to my hometown, but when writing about our very own cult I had to include the other parts of Columbus as well.
> 
> A big thanks to the WIE mods and everyone who participated this year! I look forward to participating in this event all year and am super stoked that it happened this year!

Bucky was going to be late to his tutoring appointment and he only had himself to blame.

He knew things had been tense in the Ministry House recently, so he had been doing his best not to step on any toes, especially since it was partially his own doing. So he had been making a point to do more around the house, go to all the church meetings and pay a bit more than his usual dues. What little time he didn’t spend in church, leadership classes, or bible study he spent working or (sparingly) going to class. Needless to say, his grades were languishing and he was in real danger of dropping out.

He had contacted the tutoring service in his department and set up an appointment right before his first class in the morning, hoping to slip out of the house before anyone could notice he was gone, but Brock was up and waiting for him.

It was hard to keep up a brave face in spite of the yelling, especially once they had gained an audience of a few housemates. Apparently Bucky had been spending too much time away from the house, wasn’t engaging enough with his discipleship mentor, and wasn’t giving up his share of money to the church. Did he want to leave HYDRA? Did Natasha get into his head, spread lies and Satan’s words trying to lead him off his path? Did he not take his walk with God seriously?

No, of course not, he pleaded, feeling bitter panic crawl its way up his throat. He would never leave HYDRA, they were a family! Natasha had made her own decision, but Bucky was absolutely committed. 

Bucky stormed out of the house several minutes later, feeling at once cowed and violated and hurt. Living in the Ministry House hadn’t felt like this at the start - back then it had felt like a new and exciting adventure. Sure, it was crowded, but he was surrounded by people who were just like him: devoted to something bigger than themselves. Three years later the rose colored glasses had long come off.

It was just his luck that a light drizzle picked up as he was on the way to the library just to top off the shit sandwich that his day was shaping up to be. 

“Sorry I’m late,” He muttered, shouldering through the door to the reserved room. “Had a hell of a time getting out of the house this morning.” The kid at the table didn’t seem to mind too much, shrugging under his circus tent of a sweater and tapping a pen. Bucky scrambled for his notes, wincing at the soggy corners as he tossed it to the table to rummage for a pen.

Throughout the appointment Bucky tried to surreptitiously eye his tutor, feeling confused as he explained a problem. There was no way this guy was a grad student - he looked like he would fit in better at a senior prom than defending a thesis. For the sake of his plummeting grades Bucky tried to suspend his disbelief long enough to get through the remainder of his hour appointment. It helped that his explanations were direct enough to actually help, instead of the long, meandering lectures his professor droned through every other day. 

“You don’t sound like you’re from around here,” He blurted out, right as they were packing up to leave. Tony, as his tutor turned out to be named, turned to him, an awkward little smile plastered on his face.

“I’m from New York,” He said, turning back to his things. “Manhattan to be exact.”

There was an uncomfortable beat where Bucky felt everything in him cringe away, feeling embarrassed he had even tried to make conversation. The gross, oily feeling he got when he tried to make conversation with outsiders rose in him, and remained even as they parted ways to go about their days. 

The second meeting went only marginally better, and the third and the fourth followed much in the same manner. Occasionally Bucky would get a little insight into the young man single handedly teaching him mechanical engineering, but it was slow going.

He knew only a handful of facts about Tony. His name was Tony Stark, he was from Manhattan. He was working on two masters degrees simultaneously, one in mechanical engineering and one in electrical engineering. He was 18, and he had very poor taste in ice cream. 

“I just don’t see why it matters,” He said, cheerfully decimating one of Bucky’s homework problems with green pen. “Ice cream is ice cream. I don’t have any opinion on the shops around here because I can just buy a pint from the grocery and be done with it.”

Now, Bucky didn’t have the strongest opinion on local ice cream shops himself, but he remembered with a bittersweet twinge bantering with Steve like this when they were kids, arguing with each other about how to spend their pocket change on hot summer days.

“Knights Ice Cream is the best!” Bucky maintained, resisting the urge to pull at his hair as Tony returned the problem set to him. “Graeters is good if you’ve got that kind of money, but Knights is where it’s at!” He looked across the table, spying Tony’s fond but baffled look. He forced his eyes back down to his paper, feeling the tips of his ears heat as he scribbled at the next problem.

“I’ll have to try it sometime.” Tony said after a long beat, his grease stained fingers tapping dully against the library table. “I don’t have a car, so I probabl-”

“I can take you!” Bucky blurted out, like an absolute dumbass. “I’ve, uh, got a car. And some time off, sometimes.” He was gonna catch all kinds of hell for this, he just knew it. He could already see the look on Brock’s face, he mused, watching Tony’s face light up. It would be worth it.

As it turned out it was worth it. On top of their weekly study sessions, they also went out on little adventures, as Tony was so fond of calling them. They went out for ice cream (Graeters, as Knights was closed for the winter), roller skating (an unmitigated disaster, Bucky was fairly sure he pulled his groin), the art museum (fun, surprisingly insightful, and tainted slightly with memories of following Steve around the large halls and carrying his charcoals for him), and once to see the Symphony Orchestra play (Tony loved it, but Bucky felt out of place in the crowd of grey-haired older folks). 

Bucky refused to call them dates, though he looked forward to them more than he ever had an outing with a girl. He found himself daydreaming about the things they could do together, which pretty much meant his free time was spent shuffling through his hazy memories of his childhood. 

He felt an ache in his chest as he remembered Steve, and all the years he spent chasing the scrawny asthmatic dumbass around the city trying to keep him alive long enough to grow up. He naively thought that because they had been together for so long that they would be together forever, but Steve had no love for HYDRA. He gave Bucky a choice: HYDRA or him.

Bucky had made his choice, but privately he wondered sometimes if he had made the right one.

It didn’t help to dwell on it, he reminded himself as he received Brocks “don’t get close to outsiders lest you are pulled from your path” lecture for the thousandth time. Bucky felt his stomach plummet towards his feet when the conversation took a sharp left towards converts, Brock reminding him of the mixer they were planning on throwing after bible study the next week. 

From the mean glint in Brock’s eyes, Bucky knew the only way he was going to keep Tony in his life was to at least try to get him in that door. As soon as Tony expressed even passing interest in HYDRA it was practically a free pass for Bucky to continue hanging around in the name of continuing conversion efforts, of course.

* * *

Tony hadn’t shown up to bible study that evening, but Bucky hadn’t expected anything different from him. Tony hadn’t seemed all that interested when Bucky invited him, though he confided that he’d never been sincerely asked to a party before. It would have been better for Bucky’s plot if Tony had gone to study, but Bucky could make do with what he had. It was still early, Brock would have to be pleased enough with him showing up for the hang out afterwards. 

Bucky nervously watched the door, idly listening to Brock and Rollins outlining the game plan for the evening. There were a few newbies that were making it that evening, so of course there were outlined roles to play and phases to the evening. Bucky was going to draw Tony in, make him feel comfortable and like the Ministry House was a nice place and HYDRA was a loving community of friends and family under god, bla, bla, bla. Once Tony was relaxed, or maybe a bit buzzed, Brock was going to hedge about going to services on Sunday, or the next bible study on Monday. If that went well, Rollins was supposed to get his number to follow up in a couple of days, and Bucky would drive him home while trying to get a read on how he felt about it all. The next day was a debrief with his decipler and Ministry House leader.

Bucky was already exhausted from the deceit, but he had done this dozens of times. Tony would be fine, he seemed really excited to be invited to something like this.

Bucky thought ahead to what might come of this. Tony could join the church - join a Ministry house on campus. Maybe he would be happy there, surrounded by people who cared about him (but would they really? Was Bucky really happy?). He might have to slow down on his masters degree, or drop it all together to keep up with meetings. That would be alright though, he was smart and already had his bachelors. He could get a job and make enough to contribute, maybe even make all the meetings. It was hard for Bucky to do that with his schedule sometimes, so other church members got mad at him sometimes. They also got mad when he couldn’t pay as much as some others, but he tried to be understanding about it, even when they wouldn’t.

Maybe he would find a nice girl and get married. Bucky tried to ignore how that thought made him burn with jealousy. He needed to get over that. It wasn’t proper. It wasn’t right.

He was pulled out of his thoughts with a jolt, realizing Tony was walking through the door and coming straight at him. Bucky stood to give him a hug, bracing for the night ahead and introducing Tony to his housemates.

The group was on their best behavior all evening. Everyone kept Tony engaged, laughing, and meeting new people often enough to keep the party moving. He could see Brock and Rollins exchange a look when Tony mentioned going to parties like this with past boyfriends. 

Bucky felt a little bit of his heart dry out and become brittle. He knew those looks, and there was no way he could warn Tony without damaging what tenuous peace he had made in the house. He couldn’t even pull Tony aside with the premise of checking in - that was Brock’s job that evening.

His grip on his cup stiffened as he watched Brock lead Tony to the front porch out of the corner of his eye. He tried to keep up with the conversation in front of him, but every part of himself was straining to hear anything over the music they had playing. A calm couple of minutes passed before Tony came tearing into the house, snatching up his coat with red splotchy cheeks and tears in his eyes. Rumlow followed more sedately, looking murderous as he took his place in the corner.

Tony made eye contact for one heartbreaking second, and before Bucky could do anything he took off running out of the house, slamming the door behind himself. After a second of indecision that Bucky hated himself for he made for the door, wanting to shout when Brock caught him before he could run after Tony.

“Woah woah, where do you think you’re going?” Brock asked, looking for all the world like he hadn’t insulted Tony.

“I’m going after Tony!” Bucky growled, trying to push past. Brock caught him by the elbow, leading him to the relative privacy of the kitchen. Bucky thought about fighting, but then thought better of it when he saw the glint in Brock’s eyes. “What the hell are you doing Rumlow? Since when do you let a potential convert get away?”

“He was never a convert, or not one that we wanted anyway. He was going to lead you off your path, Barnes, and god knows you don’t need anybody else to do that for you.” Bucky’s shoulders tensed, coming up around his ears and staying there. “He was gay, James, and not willing to see reason with it. I told him exactly how we feel about those people around here. He just couldn’t handle the truth.” Brock looked directly at him and Bucky felt his palms break out in a sweat. He knew. “He was living in sin, James. God doesn’t forgive sinners.”

Bucky rocked back on his heels, head reeling. He could hear Brock talking, though it sounded like he was under water. It was all Bucky could do not to walk out the door right there and then. He knew that was a bad idea - making an attempt to leave when he had a house full of church members was practically asking to be dragged back inside, and Bucky was in no mood to be locked in his room and told how drunk he was.

No, this had to be done strategically, Bucky thought as Brock continued to talk, nodding idly. He would leave that night, but he would leave silently and cleanly. He already knew the perfect place to go.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> So HYDRA is based of a real life cult called Xenos, who are a very interesting group of people that I haven't interacted with at all on a religious basis. I had a couple friends who were members in high school, but I haven't really interacted with them on OSU campus at all.
> 
> Knights Ice Cream was real, and i have been there, but it closed years ago. Graeters is an excellent ice cream shop, I would highly recommend if you ever have the chance (they might even deliver from an online store?).
> 
> Part 2 will follow shortly!


End file.
